Judge won’t step down in double slaying case

Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins on Thursday turned away a defense request to recuse himself because of his prior involvement with the prosecutor’s office at the time of the killings. The Kentucky New Era reported that Atkins wasn’t involved in the investigation into the deaths of 22-year-old Candace Belt and 18-year-old Gloria Ross at the New Life Fitness and Massage Parlor on Sept. 20, 1994.

Two former officers, 44-year-old Edward T. Carter and 51-year-old Leslie A. Duncan, and a third man, 40-year-old Frank J. Black Jr., are charged in the slayings.

Carter, Black and Duncan are each being held on $1 million bonds. Their trial is set for September.

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